I'll Be Home For Christmas
by PrincessToby
Summary: When Ginny needs to go away for business, Neville must keep their boys occupied. What better way than to share some stories about his and Ginny's past?
1. 3 AM December 18th

Three little boys stood in a row, tallest to shortest, standing in the hall that lead to the front door. All was quite as it was rather early, and a fresh snow lied outside of the small house just waiting to be disturbed. The three boys were obviously brothers and if their matching home-made, chunky knit sweaters didn't give it away, their messy heads of light brown hair and freckled cheeks surely did. The oldest was Frederick Alan, Freddy for short, who stood closest to the door and had turned nine years old only a month prior. In the middle was Edmond Grayson, who was basically asleep as he leaned against the wall and had been six for a few months now. The baby of the bunch was Jasper Nicholas who stood hugging a stuffed mandrake to his chest, and who was, as he would happy tell you had he not been so tired, three and a half years old.

After a few moments their parents came down the stairs, smiling at the sight.

"You know you're not supposed to be awake right now." Their mother said with a smile. Her brown eyes sparkled as she reached down and picked up Jasper. She was a beautiful woman, long red hair hung at her shoulders in loose curls that were pinned back ever so slightly just so they wouldn't fall into her face. Her freckles matched the boys' and she had been the one to knit their sweaters. Her husband stood behind her, notably taller than her with neat brown hair like the boys. He couldn't help but keep smiling, just full of love for his family. He held his wife's luggage in one arm and her coat in the other.

"But mummy…" Frederick started, "We wanted to say good-bye…" He nodded his head, nudging Edmond, who quickly woke and joined in the nodding.

"We all said good-bye last night.. but I don't mind saying it again." Their mother smiled as she set Jasper down next to the other boys. She then went down the line and kissed each of their heads.

"You promise…" Edmund started, interrupting himself with a yawn. "You promise that you'll be home before Christmas?" His big brown eyes stared up at her and the three boys started to all nod in unison as they waited for her answer.

Her smile only grew. "I will be home before Christmas, I promise, but you three have to promise to be good for your Father."

The boys nodded again, staring up at her as if waiting for something to happen.

"Come on Ginny, you have to get going." Her husband stated, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he handed over her jacket. Ginny slipped into it before taking her suitcase from him as well. She turned around and kissed her husband gently on the lips.

"Good-bye Neville-darling, I love you." She smiled before turning around to face the boys.

"Good-bye Jasper Nicolas, I love you."

"Good-bye Edmund Grayson, I love you."

"Good-bye Fredrick Alan, I love you."

After saying good-bye to each of the boys and giving them multiple kisses on the head, Ginny stepped out of the door and went to catch the Knight Bus that had pulled up just in time.

"Come on, you three, let's get back to bed. You can come in the big bed with me tonight." Neville smiled as he scooped up Jasper and took Edmund's hand. They were all led by Freddy and soon were snuggled into bed all together.


	2. The Next Morning

The boys slept in until 10:30 before waking up to the smell of Neville's Full English being cooked down stairs. Edmond was on his feet in no time, and Frederick helped Jasper down from the big bed. The three boys wandered down the stairs, hair even messier than normal, and then piled around the little kitchen table.

"Good morning boys." Neville said with a smile, leaving the food cooking with a bit of magic as he went over to kiss each of the boys. There were smiles and sleepy giggles all around. Neville returned to the stove and took over cooking again, preferring to do it himself when he had time.

"How did you sleep…" Edmond yawned, "Daddy?" Neville couldn't help but let out a stifled chuckle at the perpetually sleepy boy.

"Very well, Ed, thank you for asking." He smiled, starting to get things ready for plating. There was a follow up of a mumbled, "Welcome." from Edmond, and Neville turned to the boys. "Go wash up please, Breakfast will be ready when you get back."

As the boys came back from the bathroom Neville was sitting down at the table. There were four plates of varying sizes set out in everyone's usual spot with Ginny's seat left empty. The boys all bowed their heads and said thanks before diving into their meals. Neville ate with a smile, happy to watch his boys enjoy their meals.

After a bit Jasper broke the silence. "I miss Mummy already…" He said softly, looking up at Neville across the table.

"Me too." Edmond added, earning a nod from Frederick. Neville nodded his head softly, patting Frederick's back as he was sitting closest to him.

"Now I know you all miss your Mother, and I do too… but she has a very important job being an Editor and she needs to be at this conference. We all want Mummy to be happy and work hard right..?" Neville asked with a soft smile as he looked at each of the boys. They all nodded solemnly, staying quiet until Neville spoke again. "We're all going to have a fun week, I promise. We can play in the snow, or make hot cocoa, and you don't have any school so we have plenty of time. Won't that be fun?" He asked, smiling a bit larger now. The boys nodded again, smiling a bit larger.

"Can we make Christmas cookies for Mummy when she gets back?" Jasper asked with a big smile.

Neville nodded happily. "Of course we can."


	3. The Second Day Without Ginny

Day one of Ginny being away went by rather smoothly. The boys were preoccupied for a large bit of it with their Winter Holiday homework, which meant that they couldn't focus too much on Ginny not being there. Most children obviously don't take care of their homework two weeks before it was due, but having a father who was a teacher instilled these sorts of values.

Neville was woken up bright and early by the three boys at the foot of his bed.

"Daddy… wake up…" Frederick mumbled quietly, tapping Neville's leg. Neville woke softly, opening up his eyes with a smile.

"Good morning, you three." He laughed sleepily and started to sit up. "Why are you up so early? It's not even eight and no one has school today."

"Not sleepy." Said Frederick. Edmond tried to agree but his yawn said otherwise.

"We miss mummy…." Jasper said quietly, staring up at Neville with big eyes.

Neville scooped the little boy up into his arms and pulled him into bed with him. He patted the bed for the other two to join him. Once they were all snuggled into bed, Neville turned to look them over.

"Now, I know you miss mummy… so why don't I tell you a story about her so we can all think about her?" Neville's smile was greeted by three other sleepy smiles. "Good… Now where should I start…" He thought for a moment before smiling softly. "Have I ever told you how your mother and I started dating?" Edmond and Jasper shook their heads while Frederick nodded.

"I like that one though… tell it again?" Frederick asked.

"Of course, it's one of my favorites too…" Neville let out a happy sigh as he leaned back into the pillows.

"Your mother was a year behind me at school, but since we were in the same house and she was the sister of one of my close friends, we were always friends. In my fourth year Hogwarts hosted the Tri Wizard Tournament. Now, this was a great prestige for the school and everyone was excited. Along with visitors from other schools, and the main events, there was also the traditional Yule Ball." Neville smiled as he told his story, the boys all watching happily as they snuggled up beside him.

"The Yule Ball is a fancy dance that takes place on Christmas Night during years of the Tournament. Now, because Uncle Harry was in the tournament our house was expected to attend and show off our dancing a bit. I was very excited for it all. I practiced dancing for weeks leading up to the ball, just trying to get the moves down… I still stepped on your mother's feet but… that's another story."

—

"Ginny?" Neville asked, stopping the younger girl as she passed him in the library.

"Oh, Neville..! I didn't see you there, sorry." The redhead replied, peering over him at her stack of books. "Do you need me for something?"

Neville played with his robes a bit before mustering up the courage to speak. "Well… the Yule Ball is coming up, and I tried to ask Hermione but she's going with Viktor and I'm not saying trying to make you feel awkward but maybe we could go, as friends of course, to the ball together..?" Neville's face was rather red by now as he stared down at his feet.

"I'd love to go with you… as friends, of course." Ginny answered with a smile.

"Wicked…" Neville said in a hushed voice, before looking back up at Ginny. "G…great! I'll meet you in the common room and we can walk down together?" Ginny nodded with a soft smile.


	4. Christmas Day, 1994

Neville played with his bowtie nervously, waiting at the end of the staircase to the girl's dormitory. In one had he held a simple corsage, one he had made himself (with some help from Madame Pomfrey) out of daisies that he had gathered earlier that morning. Knowing his way around the greenhouses was definitely a perk for this sort of situation. His eyes darted back and forth between the staircase and the fireplace as he didn't want to stare but couldn't help but keep looking back. Of course, when Ginny was actually coming down the stairs Neville wasn't paying attention.

"Um Neville..?" Ginny called softly, coming up on his side now and looking right up at him. Neville took a moment to realize that she was there, shaking him from his trance as he turned to look. His cheeks blushed brightly as he looked down at her in her dress robes. He had never realized how beautiful she actually was. Before this she had always just been Ron's sister and a friend, but tonight she looked wonderful. He fumbled a bit with the corsage as he tried to speak.

"Good evening, Ginny." Neville managed to spit out, holding out his hand to shake hers. Not exactly romantic, but it was the first thing that came to his mind. Ginny giggled a bit as she shook his hand gently. Neville let his hand drop to his side as they finished shaking and held up the other to show her the corsage.

"I got this… well, made this for you." He said with a soft smile, holding out his hand to take her wrist. Ginny allowed him to do so and slip the corsage on. She smiled brightly as she looked down at it.

"It's beautiful, thank you." Ginny truly was excited now. At first she was just saying yes to a friend, thinking that this whole night would just be fun, but seeing the effort that Neville was already putting in to make this night special for her made her realize that maybe this could be something more.

"Shall we go?" She asked, gently taking is hand into hers so they could walk together. Neville just nodded softly and let her start to lead.

—

All of the students, except for the four contestants and their dates, were gathered in a thick circle in the Grand Hall. They watched on as the contestants shared in the first dance. Neville stood to Ginny's side, playing with his hands. He was unsure of what to do, since it was his first dance, and he didn't want to over whelm Ginny. As the first dance came to a close, Neville decided to make his move.

"Would you like to dance…?" He asked calmly, trying to hold it all together as he held his hand out to Ginny. She nodded softly with a bright smile and took his hand. Neville twirled her out onto the dance floor and from their own their night was a dream. The pair danced together as the songs passed by, laughing and smiling as they simply enjoyed each other's company. Even though he had practiced practically non-stop, Neville managed to snag Ginny's toes a few times. She laughed it off however, being a bit clumsy herself. The two danced through the night, barely stopping for some punch. They chatted idly at times, and simply held one another at others.

As the night drew to a close, Neville walked Ginny up to the tower where they stopped before the girl's dormitory. Surprisingly the common room was rather empty, most of the students had snuck off with their dates no doubt.

"Thank you for coming with me, Ginny." Neville said with a bright smile. By now he found it much easier to talk with her, much more comfortable being with her since they had spent the night together.

"No, thank you." Ginny replied with a smile matching Neville's. "I had a really good time."

"Yeah? Wonderful." Neville couldn't help but grin, glad she had enjoyed the night as well. Before he could say anything more, Ginny climbed up onto the first step before turning to face him again. She kissed his cheek before turning to walk up the rest of the stairs.

"Good-night Neville…!" She called with a giggle, cheeks bright red as she hurried away. Neville couldn't answer if he wanted to as she was already gone by time he caught his breath. With that he made his way up to his room, smile plastered on his red face for the rest of the night.


End file.
